The Auburn Tigers entered their third game of what has been a long week and faced arguably their largest test of the season against No. 4 Tennessee on short rest. The Volunteers came in undefeated in SEC play with their lone loss on the season being to No. 2 Stanford. However, it was the Tigers and the Jungle who shocked the women’s college basketball world with a 71-61 upset of the Volunteers. Auburn improves to 9-10 (1-7 SEC) on the season, while Tennessee falls to 18-2 (7-1 SEC). Following the Tigers biggest home win in years, the Jungle stormed the court to celebrate with their team at mid-court.
The win served as Auburn’s first SEC win since February 25, 2020 and was also Coach Johnnie Harris’ first SEC win in Coach J’s first season on the Plains. The win was Auburn’s first top-five win since the 1997 SEC Tournament. For the Tigers, it was their second win against a top-25 opponent this season pairing with Auburn’s upset of Georgia Tech in non-conference play.
The Tigers were led by Aicha Coulibaly who scored 26 points and grabbed seven rebounds while playing 37 minutes. Three additional Tigers finished in double figure scoring: namely, Sania Wells (13), Jala Jordan (11), and Annie Hughes (10). Jordan added six rebounds and two blocks as well. Freshman Mar’Shaun Bostic added a career-high nine points and four steals off the bench.
Auburn took an early 5-2 lead against the Volunteers before Tennessee took control early in the first quarter. The Volunteers went on a 15-2 run to take a 17-7 lead with three and a half minutes to play in the first quarter. However, the Tigers rallied in the waning minutes of the opening quarter and ended the period on a 9-0 run to close within a point at the end of the first period.
The Tigers turned up the defensive intensity in the second quarter and found a little breathing room from the Volunteers. Auburn dropped 23 points in the second quarter, which was easily one of their best offensive quarters in SEC play. By the time Jala Jordan knocked home a three with eight seconds to play before intermission, the Tigers had built a 39-28 lead.
Tennessee coach Kellie Harper made the right adjustments during the halftime break as Tennessee cam out on fire in the third quarter. The Volunteers had their own 23-point quarter, but Auburn managed to weather the hot shooting storm. Bostic went coast-to-coast as time expired at the end of the third period and laid-in a buzzer-beater to cut Auburn’s deficit to a mere point entering the fourth quarter, 51-50.
The start of the fourth quarter would mark the last time the Volunteers would lead. Honesty Scott-Grayson’s layup with just under nine minutes to play gave Auburn the lead for good. Auburn and Tennessee went back-and-forth over the first five and a half minutes of the final frame, as the Tigers could never quite separate themselves from Tennessee. A three-pointer by Hughes gave Auburn some breathing room – 65-59 – with two and a half minutes to play, and then the Tigers made their free throws down the stretch to put Tennessee away. The Tigers went on an 11-0 run over the end of the final period, before a late Tennessee layup provided the final 10-point margin.
Auburn has struggled to close out SEC games in the fourth quarter this season, so the Tigers’ strong play to end the game came as a welcome change of pace. Auburn had lead in the fourth quarter of the last two games, against Alabama and Kentucky, but had failed to close them out. It is safe to say the Tigers exorcised their fourth quarter demons against the country’s fourth ranked team.
Postgame, Hughes said the coaching staff’s message to the team pregame was to “play hard and have fun.” The Tigers certainly played hard on the defensive end, forcing 22 Volunteer turnovers and converting those turnovers into 28 points. When asked about the defensive intensity, Coach J said she told her team to play “frantic on the defensive end and patient on the offensive end.” No one embodied this better than Bostic who clearly rattle the Volunteer ball handlers. Going up against the nation’s best rebounding team, the Tigers still managed to grab 11 offensive rebounds despite missing two of their frontcourt players – Kiyae’ White and Precious Johnson.
Tennessee was led in scoring by Jordan Horston with 21 points. Jordan Walker added 17 points for the Volunteers. Alexus Dye led the Volunteers with nine boards.
Auburn continues their busy week when they travel to Nashville to take on Vanderbilt on Sunday afternoon.
